Temporary shelters, such as tents and canopies are used for a number of outdoor activities such as outdoor sports (e.g., hiking, hunting, ice fishing, snowmobiling, hiking, biking). Many outdoor activities occur in part at distances from home on trails, in fields, on a lake, or other remote location that may require the use of a shelter, sometimes under variable weather conditions. Additionally, many social activities such as spectator sports, rallies and conventions require protection from the elements, particularly rain, wind and sun.
Many sports require a user to have their hands free to participate them, and a user would be encumbered by carrying heavy gear.
It is desirable to have a convenient means of storing a sheltering device in a wearable, multipurpose outer garment so that an individual is not required to use their hands to carry the items.
It is further desirable to have a lightweight sheltering device and means for carrying a sheltering device that is carefully balanced on a user's body during transport so as not to interfere with the user's coordination or agility in participating in the outdoor activity.
Many portable sheltering devices are known in the art, as well as means to make transporting and carrying them easier. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,834 (Kester '834) discloses a “convertible tent jacket” teaches an “interconvertible article of clothing which can be converted from a jacket form to a backpack form, the jacket having an oversized pocket concealed in the back panel of such jacket for holding a full size tent, a warning or signaling flag disposed on the tent pocket cover, a plurality of pockets on other areas of the jacket for storage of emergency blankets, first aid, and other survival necessities, and having shoulder straps and a waist belt for supporting and distributing the weight of the tent and carrying the backpack.” This device, although directed at the problem of transporting portable shelters as a component of an outer garment, does not teach or enable the use of a free-standing tent, or a method for transport other than an oversized pocket into which the canvas portion of a tent may be stored, and does not address the need for a light-weight portable framework to support a tent structure.
It is desirable to have a means for storing tent poles and other structural components of a portable sheltering device during transport.
It is further desirable to have a device which is multi-functional as a jacket and portable sheltering device, and easily assembled and disassembled.
It is further desirable to have a portable sheltering device that can be erected on a variety of surfaces, including grassy surfaces, sandy surfaces, fields, muddy surfaces and solid flooring.
It is also desirable to introduce a novel item into the marketplace which amuses and surprises a user by concealing its functionality of as portable sheltering device, and which has a stylish appearance as a “field jacket” rather than as poncho or tentlike structure.